


Pot-Committed

by OstaraNight



Series: Rain in Konoha Series [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Complete, F/M, Fluff, Gambling, Kinda Gambling but not really, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:28:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23331661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OstaraNight/pseuds/OstaraNight
Summary: Tonight brought a new player to the basement of the flower shop. A new player to try their luck at her table. It would mean more money on the table for her, and she always liked a new challenge. Another bonus, this one was good looking.1950's AU - "Rain in Konoha" world
Relationships: Sai & Yamanaka Ino
Series: Rain in Konoha Series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1701505
Comments: 15
Kudos: 25





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is set in the 1950's world of my "Rain in Konoha". It is a companion to the piece, as it expands on the relationship Ino mentions in it, but you can read it by itself.

Tonight brought a new player to the basement of the flower shop. A new player to try their luck at her table. It would mean more money on the table for her, and she always liked a new challenge. Another bonus, this one was good looking.

  
Ino had always had a thing for tall and dark haired men, but she’d gotten her heart broken by them often enough that she wasn’t really looking for a relationship anymore… more just happily looking. She’d accepted that she would probably end up with Choji or Shikamaru if neither of them found someone else, or, in the worst case, alone. There was something to be said about marrying a friend, even if you couldn’t see them as really attractive or if they often drove you insane… well, maybe alone wasn’t the worst case.

  
“Who is this, Tsunade?” Ino smiled with a nod to the pale gent who stood gripping a book in a hand and standing next to the regular of their little illegal gambling establishment.

  
“This is Sai. He’s a friend of Naruto. He’s the one who called in a favor to have me bring this one along tonight.” Ino watched Tsunada’s face as she spoke. Tsunade didn’t seem very excited about the whole thing, and after a brief pause the next sentence out of her mouth only confirmed Ino’s suspicion. “Speak with him at your own expense.”

With that, Tsunade headed straight to the wet bar, leaving a very confused Ino behind in her wake. 

Ino quickly recovered her dazzling smile and turned to Sai. “Well, hello Sai. I’m Ino. And what brings you here tonight?”

Sai looked blankly at Ino before responding with an odd smile, “Tsunade.”

Ino cringed internally at her stupid question and his response, but mostly at his smile that didn’t reach his eyes. It appeared he was already hiding his emotions when the game hadn’t even started yet. Guarding himself in the way she often hid herself behind the shining smiles she gave. Still she was confident that she could get into his head before they sat down to play.

One of the best ways to get into a guy’s head was using her femine wiles. He wouldn’t be the first guy to fall into a trap set by her charm. Ino gave a giggle behind her hand before lightly resting it on Sai’s forearm. “Oh, aren’t you clever? I do suppose I asked for that,” she smiled coyly at him.

She watched Sai closely, but still his face remained blank and unaffected by her touch. “I don’t really know what you are talking about.” 

Ino felt her own smile falter slightly as her ego took a blow. But she caught and corrected it quickly, and continued on, maybe a little too brightly, “How about we get a drink before the game starts?” She grabbed his arm and guided them both to the bar without giving Sai a chance to respond.

* * *

To say the game went poorly was an understatement. For the first time in gods know how long, she had not come out ahead. Sai had cleaned up. More frustratingly, she was no closer to understanding him than when he first arrived. She had pushed a drink into his hand prior to the game, but it didn’t seem to have an effect. He had given away nothing, no tells or flickers of real emotion, and she caught nothing during the game. His playing was textbook. Somehow always folding when she had a great hand.

After Sai had cashed out (without the tells of excitement that usually came with a handful of bills from a winning night) he had proceeded to lean against the bar with his book open and a pencil gripped in his hand as he scribbled.

Probably recording his winnings or maybe even making notes about fellow players. Ino critically studied the mystery of a man. Tall, muscular, and lean. His black hair fell in front of his eyes as he bent his head, with his concentration on his paper in front of him. His suit was a well fitted item in black, but not memorable. His odd manner made him a puzzle. At least she liked puzzles.

* * *

Sai became more memorable as he continued to show up every week for the basement card games. His luck seemed to hold, and he often took home quite a bit of winnings. He was quiet and didn’t talk a lot, which continued to make it hard for her to get a read on him.

At one point Ino mentioned that she had a way with names and, while he claimed he was her age and said he was from Konoha, she was sure she never heard or saw him in school as they grew up. He surprised her by sharing that he was schooled at home, and not allowed to socialize with other kids. Maybe it was true, as he often came off as socially awkward, but maybe it was a story he told to get into others’ heads. How could she tell?

Another time she asked how he learned poker. He said he had recently read how in a book. It seemed preposterous that he could be so good if he only learned from a book, but if he was bluffing, she couldn’t tell.

What Ino could say was that he was intriguing and different, and he remained a bit of a mystery. And he was always a challenge to understand.

* * *

Finally, after another night of losing to him, she approached him as he stood at the bar with his book and pencil. It was something he did every time, and she wouldn’t usually bother him, but Ino couldn’t take it any longer. Her curiosity was getting the better of her. She needed to know how he could read her so well and continue to beat her. He always caught her bluffs and folded when she had good hands. Even if he wouldn’t say, she needed to ask.

“How do you do it?! I’m very careful when I’m playing. I know I don’t have any tells.” Maybe it wasn’t the most professional thing or way to ask, but she had grown comfortable with him. A combination of his weekly presence, honest (seeming) yet often blunt answers, and his quiet demeanor.

“You do though.” He answered with that odd fake smile.

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing, and didn’t bother to hide her indignation, “What?! Me?!”

“Your eyes. They dilate when you have a good hand.”

Ino chewed at her bottom lip. She hadn’t realized that he paid such close attention to her. No one had ever looked close enough to catch such a thing before.

Not to mention that there wasn’t a good way she could hide that. He had found a flaw in her playing. (A flaw in her?) She guarded her real self, but he had found it anyway.

“Does it bother you?”

Rather than answer she decided to change the subject. “What are you always writing in this book?” She grabbed it off the bar and started to flip through it. She quickly stopped to place it on the counter top and began to slowly turn the pages. Instead of notes and numbers as she had expected, it was filled with breathtaking drawings. Mostly nature with plants and animals.

“Sai, did you draw all these?” She paused to look up closely into his eyes.

“I did.”

“They are beautiful…” Her voice trailed off as she admired his work.

“Do you think so?”

Ino looked up at Sai, her tone surprised and gentle. “I do.”

Her reward was the first real smile she had seen from him. Soft and warm, she felt like she was just starting to truly see him. Something about it felt so intimate that she felt her cheeks heat and she quickly turned back to the book.

“Why do you draw so many flowers?”

“I like to draw beauty. To capture it in time, so I can remind myself of the beauty in the world.”

Ino blinked. She hadn’t expected that response, but it made sense. The world could be so ugly, finding any beauty in it was worth capturing and holding onto. It was one of the reasons that she enjoyed working in the flower shop, but the beauty of those flowers was always fleeting as they wilted and died. Her fingers slid down the side of the page, careful not to touch and smear the graphite sketches, as she tried to memorize each drawing. He had found a way to preserve their beauty.

Ino continued to turn pages as Sai watched her closely. Observing her reactions that she didn’t bother hiding now. She was nearing the end when she saw it.

Sketches of her. The last part of the book was almost exclusively sketches of her.   
Her as she brushed her hair out of her face. Her holding cards in her hands. Her holding back her frustration from a losing night. Then, just her eyes, warm and unguarded. Her smile, carefree. He had seen her. Observed and captured all of her in his book.

The discovery made her hold her breath until she finally breathed out, “Sai, these are sketches of me.”

“They are.”

“But why did you draw me?”

“It’s what I said, I like to draw beauty. You are always beautiful.”

Ino felt heat overtake her face again and she quickly brought her hands up to hide her face, to hide her fluster. She was losing her composure. She hadn’t expected that. Hell, she hadn’t expected any of this. She didn’t realize that she had ever let her guard down around him before, but he had been quietly patient and observant. She wasn’t as careful as she thought, or maybe she had wanted him to see her.

  
Sai moved and pulled her hands away from her face. He looked her deeply in the eyes. “I’m so sorry. Did I say something wrong? I’m always saying the wrong thing.” Then it happened. She could finally understand him. She could hear the confusion and concern betrayed by a slight change of his voice. It now spoke volumes to her. The way he looked at her. It wasn’t blank but held a slight softness in his eyes. She knew that he had always told the truth. He didn’t bluff.

“Oh no! Not at all…” She felt her skin tingle where he continued to lightly hold her hands. They stood in silence. Their hands still touching, she didn’t want to pull away. She wanted to know more about him and she wanted him to know about her. She liked his quietness, his thoughtfulness, his vonrunablity, and his honesty. She liked him. Before thinking about it any longer, Ino blurted out, “Would you like to go out on a date tomorrow, Sai?”

A brief pause followed as he thought. She wouldn’t be surprised if her heart pounded out of her chest. She had asked him without thinking. Never had she been the one to ask a guy out. 

Confusion tinted his voice again, “I thought it was the guy who was supposed to ask the girl?” 

Ino gaped in surprise. She was mortified. She had opened herself up for his rejection. Perhaps she had misread him after all? And now she had exposed her heart to him, something she swore she wouldn’t do again. Would he cast her away for showing her hand? Being too eager. Too vulnerable.

Sai continued, oblivious to her panic, “I didn’t know how to do it, though I’ve been wanting to. I think you’ve shown me the way now, though.” He took a breath. “Would you like to go out on a date tomorrow, Ino?”

She giggled in relief and excitement. “Yes, of course, silly.” 

Then another genuine, gentle smile spread across his face. So wonderful that she felt it deserved to be captured in his sketchbook.


	2. Part 2

Ino yawned as she leaned on the flower shop counter. She had changed her shift at the shop with her mother, so she could have a bit of extra time to get ready for her date with Sai that evening. She had arrived home the night before and what had transpired with Sai had left her unable to fall asleep for quite some time. She lay there replaying it in her head, her hands tingling at his touch and a smile on her lips at the memory of his own. 

So, it wasn’t surprising that the day was dragging, because, of course, she was excited for their date and just wanted the day to go quickly. The lack of any customers in the shop did nothing to make the time go any faster, but at least now her shift was nearing its end.

The bell dinged, snapping her out of her thoughts. As if summoned by her daydreams, Sai stood in the doorway of the shop with a book in his hand.

“Hello, Sai!” Ino pushed some hair behind her ear, completely taken off-guard by his arrival. She had expected to have enough time to prepare herself prior to seeing him again. To make herself intoxicatingly irresistible, not dressed in her work clothes that were wrinkled, smudged with dirt, and admittedly not not the most alluring when nearing the end of a shift. “I thought our date wasn’t for several hours?”

“Hello, Ino. You’re right. I’m not here to see you. I am here to buy some flowers.”

“Oh… sure. That is what we sell here.” Ino mentally kicked herself for assuming that he had come to see her. “Just let me know if you need any help.”

Sai smiled with a nod before beginning to wander through the flowers. Stopping in front of multiple arrangements and leafing through his book as he scrutinized each petal. He looked intensely between the flowers and the pages of his book.

Ino couldn’t help but watch him as he meandered through the store. The more he looked the more focused and determined he became. After a little while, his mouth became set in a hard line as he stared at flower after flower. 

Ino did her best to smooth her skirt and her nerves before she went to offer her help. His presence hadn’t made her nervous or giddy before, but now that she had realized her feelings (and hopefully his), that seemed to be the predominant feeling she had now.

“Need some help?”

“Perhaps. I can’t seem to find the one right flower.”

“You’re in luck, that’s something I have a lot of experience in helping people with,” she smiled as she watched the minute change of his features softening again. “First tell me what you are needing them for.”

“They’re for you.”

Sure she heard him wrong, Ino couldn’t help but ask, “For me?” 

“Yes, for our first date tonight. I was reading several books at the library on what to do when on a date. Several of them suggested bringing flowers.”

“You were studying on what to do on a date?” Ino repeated the words in disbelief and confusion.

“Yes, I wasn’t sure, so I went and read up on it.”

Ino gave Sai a quizzical look, “I didn’t know there were books like that. Is that what’s in that book?”

“No, this is a book about flower types and meanings. I wanted to make sure I got it right.”

Ino was still reeling from the idea that Sai had gone and studied for their date. It was strange, but it was also nice that he was putting effort into it. It showed he cared, right? “Well, most guys go for red roses.”

“The books also said it should be a flower that suits the person and represents how you feel about them. Roses are too common. I don’t think you are common.”

He had just very factually said one of the sweetest things she had ever been told and they weren’t even on their date yet. “Hmm, what about some calla lilies? They are associated with beauty, and you did say I was beautiful last night.” She felt her cheeks start to heat as she said it.

Sai turned to look at Ino. She felt his eyes sweep over her, as he pondered. “Yes, but there is more to you than just beauty.”

With that her cheeks flamed. When did it become so hot in here? She needed to get a hold of herself.

Sai looked at her with concern. “Are you alright?”

“Yes! Don’t worry about me.” Ino waved her hand in dismissal in an attempt to avoid anymore attention being drawn to her flustered state. “I feel like I should get you some fennel.”

“The books only mentioned it as the man who purchases flowers for the woman. I didn’t see anything about the woman giving gifts of vegetables. Is that common?”

He had totally missed her joke. Fennel meant “flattery”, but she felt a little stupid trying to explain it, so she decided to just move on. “Nevermind, Sai. How about you pick out a few different flowers, and I’ll put them in an arrangement together.”

Ino headed back to the counter to try to compose herself, as Sai began picking individual flowers with the help of his book.

Soon he was back at the counter. “How about these?”

Immediately, Ino’s mind began deciphering the flowers and their meanings. There was blue salvia (I think of you), a yellow tulip (sunshine in your smile), a pink carnation (I’ll never forget you), a purple hydrangea (gratitude for being understood), the previously mentioned calla lily (beauty), a pink rose (happiness), and finally a red rose (love).

Ino couldn’t help but smile. It was the oddest grouping of flowers that didn’t quite seem to go together, but she was sure it was the most beautiful arrangement she had ever seen. 

Momentarily at a loss for words, she wrapped them in paper and walked around the counter and handed them to him. Sai smiled warmly. Completely unaware of how sweet he was, or the effect he had on her. It only made her like him more. 

Finally, after what felt like forever, Ino found her voice, “These are perfect, Sai.” Then she couldn’t help herself. She put her hands on his face and pulled him down as she pushed up and connected their lips in a sweet, soft kiss. Sai’s eyes widened in surprise.

Once their lips parted, his shock remained with a dazed smile. She grinned, pleased with the results and ventured to ask, “What do your books say about that?”

“Our first kiss isn’t supposed to happen until the end of a date.”

Ino tilted her head, “Did you mind that I skipped ahead?”

He quickly shook his head, “No. I’m glad you did. I rather liked it.”

“Good. Then let’s not worry about what the books say. You show up with those flowers tonight and you might get another one.”   
  
Sai happily arrived on her doorstep with the bouquet in hand for their date that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to dedicate this to Nibbler747 for her comment on Part 1 on ff.net inspired me to add this Part 2. You're wonderful!  
> Also, this goes out to my ShikaTemaShrine discord Night Crew - you rock and thank you for your support!

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time attempting to write this pairing and I hope it went alright. Honestly, I'm not sure.


End file.
